Lock-nut



LOCK NUT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I1. |917.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

OFF@ 1li-1.

CHARLES w. DA1-zn, or cnrceeo, ILLINOIS.

LOCK-NUT.

reansea.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

Application led September 17, 191'?, Serial No..191,685.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHAnLrs W. DAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and `State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in L'ock-Nuts, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to lock nuts and has for one object to provide a new and improved form of lock nut which shallbe selflocking, that is a lock nut which locks itself without the use of any separate nut. Another obj ect is toprovide an integral lock nut wherein all the parts both locking and holding are made in one piece and as apart of the integral nut.

Another object is to provide a lock nut which shall have no outwardly projecting part, which shall be completely self-contained, which will be automatic in its action, can be used many times, and which when the locking force has once been overcome, can be unscrewed without diiiiculty, but which can be put back into use immediately thereafter. Another object is to provide a lock nut wherein the lockingforce may be made so great if need be that it willbe impossible practically to unscrew it. Other objects of my invention will appear from timeto time in the specification.

My invention comprises generally a lock tuut wherein a tongue projects inwardly from the bottom of a groove adjacent the bolt upon which the nut is mounted, and this tongue is adapted to engage the bolt itself andfurnish a spring wedge so that when the nut is screwed 'forward the spring wedge gives and the nut can be moved. When an eort is made to move the nut in a rearward direction the wedged spring will engage the bolt and hold the nut against rotation thereupon until sufficient pressure has been brought to bearto-turn the spring wedge member' over. d -1 ,d

My invention is-moreV or less diagrammatically illustrated in, the accompanying drawings, wherein- A d F'gure 1 isa plan view ofthe nut blank before it has been screw-threaded;

Fig. 2 is a section along the line 2*-2 of Fig. l; d

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the nut blank after it has been screw-threaded; and

Fig. 4 is a section along the line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a nut bolt and two platesY fastened together by them;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. Tis a plan view ofa modified form of nut;

Fig. 8 is a section along the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Like parts are indicated by like characters in all the drawings.

A is a nut blank. It will be stamped out in the usual nut-making machine and it may have one or two grooves on the side of the bore. Fach groove has a tongue A1 projecting upwardly from the bottom thereof into the bore. This nut blank is screwthreaded as shown in Fig. 3, the usual screwthreading top being used to do the work.

As it screw-threads the nut it will bend the members at A1 into an inclined position as shown at A2 and screw-thread them as indicated in Fig. A.

B is a bolt screw-threaded as indicated at B1. The nut is screwed on it in the usual manner. It makes no difference whether it is a right hand thread or a left hand thread, the blanks are the same in every case. When they are screw-threaded the locking memberis turned over into the proper direction. It will be understood, of course, that the sharp edge on the side of the lockilrg` inember will engage the bolt and dig into it when `an effort made to turn. the nut in a rcverse direction, but so long as the nut is moved in the forward direction there will be no appreciable resistance. If the resistance is sutliciently great to compress the spring locking member and turn it around into the position shown in dotted lilies, the nut can be unscrewed. lf, now, you turn the nut back again. the reverse movement takes place and the parts come back into the positionw shown in full lines. If, however,

balance, whereas one the size of the locking member is too great,

thaty is to say, if it is made long enough, it will be too great to turn back and it would strip thethreads before the nut canbe unscrewed. Thus this device can be so-v arranged thatJ it' furnishes an unbreakable con-y nection if that is desired, by merely making the flange or Vlocking member suilicien'tly long.

It will be evident that while I have shownv in my drawings an operative device, still manychanges'mightjbe made in size, 'shape and arrangements of parts without departing materially from the'spiritof myy invention as deiined by theappended claims, and

I' wish, therefore thatl my drawings beregarded as in a sense diagrammatic.

The usefand operation Vof my inven'tion are as follows Themaster nut will be forged into shape with a plurality of longitudinal grooves inthe wall' of the central hole. These grooves may orv may not extend throughout the entire length ofthe nut' and they may or may not be parallel with the axis o f the nut thor'igh preferably'in vorder that 'they may be 'easy to manufacture and that the nut may be used from either end they will extend clear through the`r nut andbe parallel with the' anis thereof. Projecting innvardlyy toward thebore fromthe bottom of each of these' slots is ra flexible locking tongue rwhichextendsinwaidly beyond thel wall of the bore.y 'Ih'eboreV itself is screw-threaded inL the usual manner as is the'locking tongue.

When Vthe-nut is to be put into use it isscrewedon thebolt in theusual manner.

Since the tongues-are rearwardly inclined they will offer no'oppositionto 'the travel ofthe nut along the bolt" but ifyou under.- take'- towithdraw the bolt the tongues ywill be wedged' snugly against the side of the bolt andwill resist very powerfully the return movement of 'the nut. This resistance will be so powerful in fact thatf under some circumstances the threadwill be stripped before the nut can be removed.

There might be'only one strip and only one channel. Preferably there are a plurality of them, and preferably two, because being diametrically opposed they balance the load and make the nut turn on thebolt more smoothly. There might bethree or four, and 4possibly this would give an even better A balanc `e,;butv two makes a satisfactory is likely to make the nut'fchatter.

In the modified formshown i11 F igs. and v8, the holding member does `n textendv throughoutjthe full length of theA nut, In

thisy case the eut away lportionof the nut has that part that is farthest removed from the holding surface. Thus the nut isfstrength'-v ened and there is a greater thread surface at the same time locking is sullicient. ln this arrangement also if it should happen that thelocking member strip the thread a little when not" desired `or expected the nut could'still be usedon the same bolt valthough in this instance the locking means would bc inoperative;

1'. The combination with a nut of an i11- wardly projectino flexible wedge strip disf posedA substantially parallel with thev axis of rotation of the nut adapted to engage the bolt upoirwhich thenut is screwed and to lock it against rotation.

2. Thecombination with. a`n`ut` of flexible projections therefrom, dis'posed substantiallylpar'allel with the axis yof rotation of the' nut/i, adapted toengage andbe wedged against a fixed? surface and to lock the nut it' int'othe central bore' of, the nut adaptedy to `v engage a'ndfbeI wedged against the bolt upon which saidI ymitis 'mounted and to llock the n u t` against rotation," said tongues threadedto correspond'to the threads of the nut.

e.' The combination with a nut of. a flexible locking member disposed, substantially parallel wi th`,th e axis ofrotat'io'n of the nut adapted' to slida'bly engage a iiXed surface,

to travel therealon'Y when the nut'is moved in the'forward: directionfb utI to wedge itself thereagainst when the nut is'moved in the return direction,l said member havingA a sharp' biting edge adapted to engage the fixed surface.v

6L In alock nut having a centrally disposedbore with a channel communicating therewith, and parallel thereto, afflexible wedge strip vextendingl inwardly from said channel toward the center of the bore.

P'. y s r I In v a locknut having a centrally dis posedjbpre withchannels communicating tl1 e r e \v1 t'h, and; parallel-` thereto, a' screw threaded; flexible wedge strip ext` end1 ng' 11iwardly fronr each of said channels toward the center ofthe bore.

parallel thereto, locking members disposed along said c'h'aii'nel-andl integral with said look nut, seid members adapted positively to resist nnsorewing of the bolt,l said members being eiieetve along the entire length of the bore;

9. In a. single piece lock nut having a Centrally disposed bore, looking members disposed thereelong, and integral with said nut, said members adapted positively to resist unsorewing of tl1e'bolt,end adapted to exert resistance along the entire length of 10 the bore.

lIn testimony whereof, I aiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses this fourteenth day of September, 1917.

CHARLES W. DAKE. Witnesses MINNIE M. LINDENAU, LAUREL M. DOREMUS. 

